County: Roscommon Site name: Ballaghcullia 1
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: Direction No. A077, Registration No. E5070
Author: Patrick Walsh
Site type: Bronze Age
Period/Dating: Bronze Age (2200 BC-801 BC)
ITM: E 574825m, N 788650m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.846716, -8.382573
Ballaghcullia 1 was excavated in advance of the construction of the N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge Road Project in County Roscommon for Roscommon County Council and the TII.
The site consisted of two cuttings. One contained a charcoal-rich spread containing Early Bronze Age pottery that may have been marked by a stake. The other contained two pits, one of which contained a Late Bronze Age cremation deposit. The site was discovered during Stage (i)a Standard Test Excavations, carried out by AMS under Ministerial Direction (Direction No. A077, Registration No. E5070) (Hardy 2021). The Stage (iii) Excavation was undertaken between 6 and 8 February 2020.
In Cutting 1 there was a charcoal-rich spread containing seven sherds of an Early Bronze Age bowl-tradition vessel, the style and decoration of which suggest a date of c.1980 BC. The spread was c.1.6m long, 1.3m wide and 0.13m deep, and its location may have been marked by a neighbouring stake-hole. Charcoal from the spread primarily consisted of hazel, with pomaceous fruitwood, willow and oak also identified. A small quantity of barley, oat and hazelnut were also recorded. An oat grain from the spread, which was dated to the early medieval period, cal. AD 705–942, is likely to be intrusive and associated with later activity.
Approximately 30m south-southeast in Cutting 2 there was a small circular pit, measuring 0.32m by 0.31m in plan and 0.05m deep. This feature contained a small quantity of cremated bone (26.12g) strongly indicative of a token cremation. A sample of this cremated bone returned a Late Bronze Age date of 1002–890 cal. BC. The charred wood macro-remains from the fill of the cremation pit comprised exclusively of oak, suggesting a deliberate selection of oak for pyre material. Charred fragments of cereal grains, ruderal weeds and hedgerow species were also recovered. These may have been part of a deposit of food, either from a mourner’s feast, as a gift for the dead or to symbolise the link between death and the regeneration of life.
A second small pit, measuring 0.5m long, 0.4m wide and 0.18m deep, was located c.3.2m to the east-northeast of the cremation pit. The fill of this pit contained an abundance of oak charcoal and may also be a remnant of pyre material.
The site of Ballaghcullia 1 has been fully excavated and all post-excavation analysis has been completed.
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